Washington

The Union Bulletin’s editorial board found two recent reviews of the state’s ESSA plan “encouraging.” The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, found, “Washington’s new system for how to evaluate schools is one of the best in the nation.” Additionally, Check State Plans found that, “Washington has...

Paige Cornwell reports that Washington State’s ESSA plan “has set ambitious goals for its students that other states should emulate, says a panel convened by Bellwether Education Partners in partnership with the Collaborative for Student Success.”

Washington state officials announced their ESSA plan on September 18, the federal deadline for submission. “Graduation rates will be 50-percent of the formula,” said state schools chief Chris Reykdal. “We include things now like absenteeism of students, and how they’re performing in the 9th grade,...

When ESSA takes effect this year, Washington State “parents won’t receive letters that their child’s school ‘needs improvement’ because the school didn’t meet federal test-score targets, like some did before” because, under ESSA, there “are no federal test-score targets.”

The Washington State Dept. of Education announced it will submit an ESSA implementation plan in September. According to Superintendent Chris Reykdal, “Submitting our plan in September allows for continued engagement on some of the remaining issues and provides us the opportunity to align our final...

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction announced the public comment period deadline for the state’s ESSA plan. To date, over 120 comments have been submitted. The deadline for comment submission is February 15, 2017.

According to the Union Bulletin, the Washington State Office of Public Instruction is examining ways to track absenteeism under the state’s new ESSA plan. One in five students in Washington miss 10 percent of the 180-day school year. State Education Superintendent Chris Reykdal stated that...

Washington superintendents are “glad that the state office of public instruction had delayed the ESSA plan until the spring,” according to The Daily News. The state will continue to collect public comments on the draft plan until January.